Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 10:42:51 -0800 (PST) From: Jennifer L. Richard For Immediate Release February 9, 1996 Contact: Jennifer Richard PROTECTING OUR PARTNERSHIPS: Screening of Documentary Video,"Love Knows No Borders" and Panel Discussion Sacramento Lawyers for the Equality of Gays and Lesbians (Sac LEGAL) and Lambda (McGeorge Law School's Gay and Lesbian Student Group) will sponsor a screening of the documentary "Love Knows No Borders" and a panel discussion on protecting our partnerships. "Love Knows No Borders,"produced by Elizabeth Bird, is a video documentary about gay and lesbian couples and the ways in which their lives and relationships are destroyed because they are denied full legal recognition of their partnerships. The couples depicted in the documentary just happened to be from different countries, and they are trying, against all odds, to stay together. This is a compelling and moving story, revealing the devastating results of discrimination on gay and lesbian lives and relationships. The film maker Elizabeth Bird explains, "We have to educate ourselves and the public to understand that immigration discrimination is one of the reasons that we as a community must be fighting for the freedom to marry." Besides the couples featured, Bird also presents interviews with gay and lesbian activists, including Evan Wolfson, senior staff attorney at Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, who is co-counsel on the pending Hawaii marriage case. The panel discussion on protecting our partnerships will include a discussion of the battle that is being fought at the state level to prevent the recognition in California of same-sex marriages legally preformed in others states and a discussion of Sacramento's domestic partnership ordinance. Laurie McBride a member of the National Freedom to Marry Coalition and Executive Director of the LIFE: California's Lesbian/Gay and AIDS Lobby will discuss AB 1982 (Knight) and what Californians can do in order to stop this hateful bill. Eileen Gillis, a local attorney and a Sac LEGAL board member, will discuss Sacramento's Domestic Partnership ordinance and the current protections that are available to gay and lesbian couples. After the panel discussion there will be an opportunity for questions and answers and for participants to sign letters or cards in opposition to AB 1982 (Knight). The event will take place Thursday, March 7, 1996 at McGeorge Law School, Class Room D on the corner of 33rd Street and 5th Avenue in Sacramento, CA. There will be a reception from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. followed by the video screening and panel discussion. The public are welcome and admission is free. # # #